Today was a real tearjerker as Republican Randy "Duke" Cunningham pleaded guilty to conspiring to take bribes in exchange for using his influence to get a defense contractor some business.

Although Our Tom may disagree, crime really doesn't pay, and Cunningham resigned from Congress as a result of his transgressions.

For the record, a recap of a few of those transgressions:

Federal officials launched investigations after The San Diego Union-Tribune and Copley News Service reported in June that a defense contractor who won tens of millions of dollars in Pentagon contracts had taken a $700,000 loss after purchasing Cunningham's Del Mar-area house.

"What they discovered," Lam said, "was an egregious pattern of bribes."

Cunningham sold the house for $1.675 million in November 2003, but the buyer, defense contractor Mitchell Wade, never moved in and almost immediately put it back on the market. Wade sold it 261 days later for $975,000.

The congressman, who sat on the House defense appropriations subcommittee, used the proceeds of the sale to buy a $2.55 million house in Rancho Santa Fe, which he has since put up for sale.

Lam said the bribes from defense contractors totalled $2.4 million and included:

* Buying the Del Mar-area home at an inflated price;

* Paying for the capital gains tax on that sale;

* Buying and maintaining the yacht in Washington D.C. on which Cunningham lived;

* Paying for a graduation party for Cunningham's daughter

* Buying a Rolls Royce, antique furniture and jewelry, and picking up travel and hotel expenses for Cunningham and his wife;

* Making a $500,000 mortgage payoff for the house in Rancho Santa Fe.

"It is abundantly clear that Mr. Cunningham let greed take priority over his duty to serve the best interests of his constituents and his country," Lam said.

(AP)